


Love and Learn

by Lsama_no_miko



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Kleptoshipping - Freeform, M/M, Tendershipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 02:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13824777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lsama_no_miko/pseuds/Lsama_no_miko
Summary: Bakura, thief for hire, winds up stealing more than he expected and his life changes yet again, is it for the better or worse? YBY YBR SYY YMM





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue

 

            Twenty years ago, science had made it possible to clone a sheep. Now however, science has leapt forward to such a degree, that any type of living creature could be created down to the last molecule. Hence the creation of Mobians, genetically engineered humanoid beings with the characteristics of other earthly creatures – so named for the madman who succeeded in the first genetic splicing. These Mobians were created in such a way that each one’s personality and abilities could be configured well before an actual embryo had formed.

            Due to the restrictions placed by the world’s governments, such manipulation of the human genome, was considered illegal making it possible for only the extremely rich and powerful able to acquire use of Mobians.

            The most sought after Mobians, those bred to be assassins and pleasure slaves, came from a company known as Paradius. The company’s actual location was unknown to most and its owner and CEO, Dartz, was even more mysterious. However, if anyone needed his services, they always seemed to know how to find the enigmatic man.

 

Chapter 1

 

            The white haired thief glanced toward the security monitors as he waited for the computer to finish copying the data his employer had requested. Seeing a flock of guards rush down one of the closer hallways, he frowned as the progress bar on the screen continued to take its sweet time to fill up.

            “Come on, dammit!” he cursed. He was getting nervous and the test tube like incubators with various types of animal/human Mobians surrounding him didn’t help either. The mere thought of anyone being able to manipulate a person’s body down to the smallest molecule just freaked him out. He looked at them with a mixture of disgust and pity.

            He had read some of the information on these monstrosities. Some of them had actually once been human children who were either kidnapped or sold to the research lab only to be horribly experimented on and trained for assassinations and guard duty. Though most were trained for killing more than guarding. ‘Poor %*&#s,’ he mused. Before he could dwell on them further, the computer beeped signaling the completion of its task. “Finally!” the thief said, quick ejecting the minidisk.

            But before he could pocket it and make his getaway, the lab’s only door opened with a hiss and a man with bluish-white hair even longer than his wearing a white lab coat entered, followed by a young man with red, black and gold spiky hair. Actually, man wasn’t the proper term for the second person. The thief looked in shock at the black gold tipped ears and tail of the man. One look at his sharp claws told the thief he was one of the Mobian assassins.

            “I’ll be taking that disk, if you don’t mind,” the white haired scientist said, smirking smugly.

            “The hell you will!” the thief spat back, shoving the disk into an inside pocket and drawing out a pair of daggers.

            The scientist turned to his bodyguard. “MI-984, go fetch that disk for me,” he commanded, a dangerous glint in his mismatched eyes.

            The cat Mobian didn’t answer, instead he growled lowly and leapt at the thief, slashing his face with his claws and dragging the disk out of the thief’s pocket.

            “Good boy, now kill him.”

            The thief knew what to expect this time and dodged the second attack only receiving a gash on his arm. He charged the scientist, knocking him into the control panel of one of the incubators and unwittingly beginning the release process. He shoved one of his daggers against the man’s throat. “Call him off or you’re dead,” he hissed.

            The scientist smirked. “Go ahead. Once given an order to kill, nothing will stop him until the target’s dead.” The Mobian looked from the thief to his master in obvious conflict. The directive to protect his master was conflicting with the present order to kill the intruder due to the fact that said intruder had placed his master between them as a shield.

            “Do as I told you, you stupid cat!” the scientist yelled. “Kill him!”

            The Mobian growled in frustration as the thief grinned and pressed his dagger harder against the skin, forming a thin red line. The sight of his master’s blood being spilt enraged the cat boy and he made a mad dash for the thief only to have his prey dodge once again and shove the man onto the Mobian’s sharp claws, effectively piercing his chest and damaging a major artery.

            The cat boy howled, realizing that he had just killed his master, the one he’d been commanded to protect at all costs and slumped to the floor, cradling the body. Ignoring the whimpers coming from the Mobian, the thief picked up the disk that had been dropped in the fray and re-pocketed it. He was about to leave when a small voice stopped him.

            “Master?”

            The thief looked around and saw that a smaller twin of the cat Mobian he’d just fought was standing by a now empty incubator and was looking at him with eager eyes. “Oh %&^#,” the thief muttered realizing the situation just got worse.

            According to the information he’d glanced over, the Mobians had an imprinting instinct engineered into them so that they would obey the first person they saw, and only that person. And now, here was a newly awakened cat Mobian and he was in its direct line of sight. “Stay here,” he said, hoping whoever found the two Mobians would be able to fix his mistake. There was no way he was bringing a potential danger anywhere near his home.

            The thief was made yet another attempt for the door, when he heard shots just outside. “%*&^! It would just have to be one of those days!” he grumbled. He dashed to the door’s control panel and quickly hit the emergency lock, hoping that would cause the guards outside to go away in search of more experienced help and allow him to make his escape then.

            But he had no such luck, within seconds, the control panel exploded on the outside, and the door was being manually opened. Grabbing the smaller of the two Mobians, the thief quickly glanced at the boy’s hands and saw that he too had razor sharp claws. Nodding to himself, he shoved the Mobian at the door. “Kill anyone who comes through that door,” he said going over to the other Mobian. The smaller one nodded, then narrowed his amethyst eyes as the door slowly opened.

            “Ok,” the thief said standing at a safe distance from the taller cat Mobian. “Time to snap out of it, ‘oh mighty Pharaoh’,” he said, sarcastically. The boy’s crimson eyes went blank then shortly went back to normal as he dropped the corpse of his former master and stood at attention.

            Luckily, the Mobians also had a failsafe password so that if needed, anyone could take control of another person’s Mobian, however to prevent accidental switching of masters or thefts, the failsafe was lengthened from just one word to a series of words or a phrase that had to spoken in just the correct tone. But this was a rare occurrence since most Mobians were killed upon their master’s death in fear of them going insane at the loss, if the failsafe was used, it was generally because the master had willed his/her Mobian to someone.

It had just so happened that the thief had come across the password for this particular Mobian while searching for the required information.

            “Go help him,” the thief said, gesturing toward the smaller Mobian who, was now slowly being outnumbered since he really wasn’t supposed to be used as an assassin. The taller Mobian then leapt at one of the stragglers and made quick work of the hapless guard.

            The thief then made a dash for the path that was being cleared for him and ran like a bat out of hell from the lab, the two Mobians following behind, killing any who dared to intend harm to their master.

 

******

 

            The thief sighed at his aching face and arm as he rested against the wall, dreading what his lover would think when he saw the deep gash on his left arm. Before he could steel himself for the approaching lecture, a red, black and gold, blur attacked him and he found himself knocked onto the hall carpet and a cat Mobian nuzzling against his chest.

            “Master’s fast,” the cat like boy said, refusing to let go of the white haired thief.

            The taller Mobian chuckled softly at the smaller one’s kittenish behavior.

            “Dammit! I forgot about you two,” the thief said, glancing around the hall after forcing the cat boy off him and stood up. He opened the door to his apartment, then promptly grabbed the wrist of the nearest Mobian. “Get in here before anyone sees you!” He then pulled the smaller Mobian inside, quickly followed by the other.

            “’Kura-sama? Is that you?” a smaller white haired clone of the thief said coming from their shared bedroom. When the boy’s eyes lay upon the two Mobians, he stared for two seconds, then promptly fainted.

            “%&^@*,” the thief muttered, rushing over to his lover.

 

~Tsuzuku (TBC)~


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

            Bakura rushed over to the fox clone wondering what could have caused him to faint. He knew Ryou wasn’t as tough as he was, but never had the boy fainted before.

            “Ryou koi, wake up,” he pleaded, gently tapping his cheek.

            “Master?” the smaller of the two Mobians queried, confused by Bakura’s smaller look-alike.

            The thief whirled his head at the cat boy’s voice. Then it hit him why his lover fainted. The smaller one was completely naked and covered in incubator fluid and blood. The sight would make anyone faint. He blushed, then quickly dragged the two Mobians into the shower room – the other Mobian was covered in blood as well. “You two clean yourselves and stay put!”  he ordered then went back to the fox Mobian.

            He gently carried the smaller white haired teen to their room and laid him on the immense bed. “Ryou?” he called when he began to stir. Ryou groaned as he struggled to get up. “Easy tenshi,” Bakura said as he helped him to a sitting position.

            “W-What happened ‘Kura-sama?” he asked.

            “You fainted koi.”

            “I know, but I meant who were those ‘people’ with you?”

            The taller albino cursed. How the heck was he going to explain coming home with two not so human men, both covered in blood. “You know I had a job tonight, right?” Ryou nodded. “Well it sort of got botched.” Ryou went pale, but said nothing until his love had finished his tale as he cleaned and bandaged his arm. “So it looks like we’re stuck with ‘em until my client shows up to claim that f'in’ disk.

            “I guess so, but that doesn’t explain why they followed you home though.”

            “I told you about the failsafe password, remember?”

            Ryou nodded. “But what about the other one? Why did he follow you?”

            “Imprinting.”

            “Oh.” Ryou knew all too well about that. He too had been programmed to be loyal to the first person he saw upon waking. If the thief hadn’t stumbled upon him during one of his earlier heists, he would’ve been attached to one Pegasus J. Crawford, ‘one sick #%^&’ as Bakura put it. The past three years had been the best so far. “Um, ‘Kura-smaa… can I meet them?” he asked not sure as to how long the Mobians were going to stay and was curious since he’d never known any other beings like himself.

            “Might as well.” Bakura then grabbed some clothes. “They’re in the shower,” he said noticing his clone’s confusion.

            He entered the shower room to see the two Mobians standing where he left them, however the blood - and other stuff in the little one’s case - had been cleaned off and the towels had been folded neatly on the floor. “Put these on,” he ordered handing them the clothes. “What are your names?” he asked as they dressed.

            “MI-984,” the taller one answered.

            “I’m UG-244, master,” replied the smaller.

            Bakura frowned. He never liked the tastes of scientists. “Your name,” he said pointing at the taller Mobian, “is Yami.” The cat boy nodded in acknowledgement. “And you’re Yugi.” The other Mobian gave a quiet ‘thank you master’ and smiled, happy to be given so much from his owner. Bakura smiled back, glad to have made the little one happy. “Come with me.”

            When they reached the bedroom, Ryou was still sitting on the bed, waiting patiently for his lover to come back. “H-Hello,” he said shyly, looking at the two Mobians. The smaller one gave an equally shy smile.

            “Hello,” he chirped, though he was confused by the boy’s resemblance to his master.

            “This is Yami and Yugi, Ryou,” Bakura said introducing their new housemates. “Don’t be shy Yami say hello,” he said when the taller Mobian didn’t stop eyeing his clone warily.

            Yami, the taller Mobian stepped closer to the boy who started trembling remembering that Bakura had told him that this one was built for assassination. The tri-color haired Mobian sniffed the boy for any sign of danger. Finding none, he smiled, finding his scent to his liking then licked his face in greeting. Ryou blushed at this lover’s chuckling.

            “Looks like they like you, tenshi,” he said holding back his laughs and failing as Yugi was now rubbing against Ryou’s chest and purring like the kitten he appeared to be. Ryou glared at him, blushing furiously. “Alright, everyone, we’ve all had a hard day,” Bakura said pulling the Mobians off the fox boy, the smaller one clinging onto him now. “It’s time for bed.” Yami gave a ‘hai master’ and started looking around, waiting to be told where he was to sleep.

            Taking the Mobians to the spare room, Bakura disentangled Yugi from himself and started to leave. “You two can decide who gets to sleep on the couch.” With that, he went back to Ryou.

 

*******

 

            Yugi could not sleep. He lay awake on the bed, pouting at the ceiling. He was annoyed and heartbroken that neither Yami nor his master had wanted to ‘play’. In fact, the taller Mobian had emphatically explained that his wasn’t Yugi’s breed of Mobian – guard/assassin Mobians were equipped with a very low sex drive and would only sleep with someone they’d developed an extremely strong bond with, which was extremely rare – and stormed off to the couch.

            The littl cat Mobian then remembered that his master hadn’t said they weren’t to leave their beds. Smiling mischievously, Yugi crept as silently as only a cat can and stalked into his master’s room. He pouted a bit when he saw the white haired thief curled up next to the fox boy he decided to consider as his master as well due to their resemblance, his arm draped protectively over the boy. He steeled himself then bounded into the bed, curling up against his taller master. Purring softly, he wrapped his arms and tail around Bakura, giving the white haired man a quick lick behind one ear before falling asleep.

 

*********

 

            The next morning, Bakura woke, warmer than usual. Instead of just him and Ryou, he saw the little Mobian he’d accidentally acquired the night before, his arms and tail still wrapped around him. Smiling, the white haired thief gave a soft sigh as he tried to free himself from the cat boy’s embrace. Unfortunately, the movement woke his other bedmate. “Mmm. Morn’in’ ‘Kura-s’ma,” Ryou said sleepily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

            Yugi gave a cute little ‘meow’ as he yawned and stretched. Then he realized where he was and quickly backed away from Bakura, fearing he’d been disobedient by sneaking into his bed. “What’s the matter Yugi?” Ryou asked concerned at the Mobian’s trembling.

            “Hey it’s ok,” Bakura said petting Yugi’s head, “I’m not mad at you.” Yugi looked at his master who was now scratching behind his ears. Unable to control himself, the little Mobian began purring and leaning into the caresses.

            “He really is adorable ‘Kura-sama,” Ryou said smiling and joined his lover in petting their new ‘cat.’ “He’s just like a little kitten.”

            “That he is koi, but we still can’t really keep him.” Bakura frowned, seeing how attached the two had become over the past few hours was going to make it even more difficult to give the poor guy up, especially since he too began to become found of the kittenish Mobian. “I’ll have to see if my client will be willing to take them in. Having four mouths to feed will be a bit of a strain on the budget. What I make from ‘work’ could feed maybe three of us, but not four.”

            “I know, but still… I’d hate to think who they’d wind up with if we just threw them out.” Ryou shivered, remembering the tales and rumors his lover had told him about the man who almost became his master.

            “Master?” Yugi asked, confused and worried at his other master’s sudden change in mood.

            Bakura rubbed the smaller Mobian’s back. “It’s alright, kitten. Just bad memories, ne Ryou?” he said, giving his love a reassuring kiss. The shorter albino nodded then started for the bathroom, missing the small glare from the Mobian.

            “I’ll start breakfast once I’m done,” he called.

            Bakura smirked when he caught the cat boy glaring at the doorway. “So little Yugi’s jealous, eh?” he asked teasingly.

            “N-No master!” the little one cried, scared he’d be punished for being jealous of his master’s chosen mate. “Master needs only one mate,” he said sadly, looking down at the floor, suddenly finding it interesting.

            The thief’s eyes widened. ‘So that’s what kind of Mobian he is! No wonder the poor guy’s so attached to me.’ He remembered the information he’d come across regarding sex Mobians and it made him glad that b@$%^&# was dead. From what he read, sex Mobians were basically bed slaves bred for those with certain ‘kinks’. And like assassin and guard Mobians, they were just as loyal.

            No wonder Yugi had been glaring at Ryou. He thought he was to be Bakura’s only ‘mate’ and not part of some harem. “Yugi, look at me,” he said gently lifting the cat boy’s head so they could be eye-to-eye. “If I’d met you before Ryou, you’d definitely be my, ahem, mate.” That brought a small though sad smile to the Mobian’s face. “But I never meant to wake you. It was an accident that you woke up.”

            “Master doesn’t want Yugi?” Tears began to fall from the smaller Mobian’s eyes.

            “Aww hell!” the thief swore. “I didn’t say that! I just meant that I can’t keep you and that if I could and didn’t already have Ryou…” Bakura swore again as the poor Mobian continued to wail and howl at his master’s rejection.

            “Is everything alright Master?” Yami said coming into the room at hearing Yugi’s wailing.

            “I’m just no good with Mobians,” the thief then sighed and left to get ready. His client was supposed to be there soon.

            “Master doesn’t want Yugi!” the shorter Mobian wailed again, sobbing his heart out. The cries and tears went straight to the older cat boy’s heartstrings and they   pulled  **hard**.

            “Shh. It’s alright, little one. Maybe master’s just shy,” he said, wrapping his arms and tail around the smaller Mobian.

            “No! Master already has a mate! He doesn’t need Yugi!” Then came another ear piecing, not to mention heart-wrenching, wail.

            Yami’s eyes narrowed. How dare their master string the little one along then flat out refuse him! He wanted to give the man a good slashing with his claws, but grabbed his head as he stood up, the programming punishing him for even thinking of harming his master.

            “Yami hurt?” Yugi asked concerned for the nice cat who looked like him.

            “It’s nothing, little one. I’m going to see if master needs us to do anything,” he lied. No need to burden the smaller sex Mobian with his own problems. Yugi nodded, still crying, but the wails and howls had died down to soft whimpers and mews. ‘Please don’t hurt him anymore, master’ Yami thought, surprised that such a small kitten would have such a huge effect on him. ‘He needs you.’

 

********

 

            A couple hours later found Yugi in Yami’s lap, the taller Mobian petting and licking his kittenish twin as they watched the TV. Ryou had giggled and cooed over the cute ‘kitties’ earning him blushes from Yami and barely hidden glares form Yugi.

            “I’ll get it,” called Bakura as a knock came from their front door. “It’s probably my client.” Ryou nodded and Yami followed, after placing Yugi on the couch, doing what he’d been bred to do – guard his master.

            “So do you have what I hired you for?” a brown haired, blue eyed man not that much older than the thief asked as he entered the apartment.

            “Yeah, I got it. But there’s a problem,” Bakura said leading him into his computer room and away from the living room. No need for Ryou to get involved with his ‘work’.

            “A problem? You know I don’t like failures,” his client said frowning. He backed down however when he saw a cat Mobian at the thief’s side glaring at him, ready to pounce should he try anything. “I didn’t know you could afford two Mobians, Bakura.”

            “Ha! You damned well know I can’t. He’s part of the problem,” he said pulling out the minidisk he’d been poring over all morning.

            “Oh? Is he now?” the brunet queried, intrigued.

            “Yeah. He is. Yugi come here!” he called into the hall. His client raised a curious eyebrow then stared bug-eyed as another Mobian entered the room, the first one’s twin apparently.

            “How’d you get  _two_  Mobians?” he asked.

            “It’s a long story, you’ve got the time?” He knew this man practically had every second of his life on a schedule so he wouldn’t be too surprised if he left that instant. However he didn’t expect what his client did next.

            The brunet pulled out a cell phone and pushed a button. “Mokuba, have my secretary cancel all appointments for today.”

            “Ok, Seto, but are you feeling alright?” the shock was very obvious in the boy’s voice at the other end.

            “Yes, I’m feeling fine.” A bare hint of a smile appeared on the man’s face. “Something just came up and it’s probably going to take all day.”

            “Oh alright. You know I still think you work too much, right?”

            “I know, I know, but it puts food on our table not to mention all that sugar you keep sneaking and all those games of yours.”

            “Yeah, I know but I really get lonely when you don’t come home til real late.”

            “I’ll try to be home before midnight. I promise.”

            “You’d better or I’ll have the staff lock you out of your office again.” There was a chuckle from the brunet at that. “Love you ni-sama.”

            “Love you too otouto (little brother). I’ll see you soon.” He then hung up and replaced his cell. He cleared his throat, smirking at the befuddled thief. “Alright you now have my undivided attention. This had better be worth that call.”

            Bakura then explained how he had accidentally deactivated Yugi’s incubator and woke the little Mobian up and how he was forced to take control of Yami and was now stuck with two overly loyal Mobians that he could barely afford to care for.

            “Hmm. I can see where they’d be a problem,” Kaiba said looking at the two cat Mobians, finding himself intrigued with the one named Yami. “Let me guess, you want to ask if I’ll take them off your hands, ne?”

            Bakura chuckled. “You’re not the richest guy around for nothing. Got it in one, Kaiba.”

            “Tell you what, I’ll do it. I certainly could use a better bodyguard than those idiots they keep sending me. And Mokuba could use a new playmate.”

            “Appreciate it, Kaiba, however…” he said with a look resembling his smaller fox look-a-like during one of his more playful moods.

            “Let me guess. This is going to cost me extra.” Kaiba sighed then shoved a wad of cash at him. “I figured you’d try something so I brought a bit more than what we agreed on.”

            “Glad to see a client who’s not gonna argue with me,” Bakura said stuffing the money into his pocket. He didn’t need to count it. He knew Kaiba was the last person to cheat on pay when the results were in his favor. “The failsafe is ‘oh mighty Pharaoh’ for Yami – you’ve gotta be sarcastic on that one. I couldn’t find the one for Yugi though. If I had a bit more time…”

            Kaiba nodded, then started for the hall. “Come ‘oh mighty Pharaoh,’” he said to Yami. The Mobian’s eyes blanked again then returned to normal. Yami silently followed his new master earning a confused look from Yugi.

            “Go with him Yugi. He is your master now,” Bakura said, gently ushering the smaller Mobian after them.

            “Master?” he mewed.

            “I want you to go with him, little one, do whatever he says ok? Can you do that for me?” He said patting Yugi’s head.

            The kittenish Mobian nodded. “But master…”

            “Hurry up, Yugi!” Kaiba said from the front hall.

            “Go on, little one. I’ll see you soon, ok?” Bakura hated to lie to the small Mobian like that, but he had to do it if he wanted him to go with Kaiba.

            “Ok,” chirped Yugi. “Bye master, I love you!” he called as he followed Yami and his new master out the door. Bakura could only stare, unable to get rid of the pang of guilt of what he’d done to poor, innocent Yugi.

            “You had to do it, ‘Kura-sama,” Ryou said wrapping his arms around his taller lover. “They’d be better off now they’re with Kaiba-dono.”

            “I know koi, but still Yugi’ll be crushed when he learns I lied. You just don’t do that to a kid like him.”

            Ryou nodded, resting his head on the thief’s back. “Maybe he’ll forget all about you and love Kaiba-dono instead.”

            “I really hope so tenshi. I hope so.”

 

 

~Tsuzuku~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: SLIGHT RAPE IN THIS CHAPTER SO, DON’T READ IF YOU NO LIKEY

Chapter 3

 

            Seto Kaiba walked into his mansion, the two cat Mobians following silently behind him, Yami’s eyes constantly darting around for any sign of danger. Yugi just stayed behind the taller human, already missing his master.

            “Yami, you’ll be using the room next to mine,” he said heading toward the stairs. The taller cat Mobian nodded. “Yugi you can use the room next to my brother’s.” The smallest of the three barely acknowledged him, only nodding a tiny bit.

            “’Nii-sama, you’re actually home early!!!!” a black blur cried as it rushed down the stairs, almost knocking Seto over. Yami, thinking his master had been attacked, grabbed the boy glomping him and raised one clawed hand, ready to strike.

            “Yami stop!” the brunet yelled, causing poor Yugi to cringe and the taller Mobian to drop a  _very_  shocked boy with long raven hair. “This is my younger brother, Mokuba,” he said after making sure the boy hadn’t been hurt. “He is  _not_  to be harmed in anyway.”

            Yami nodded, hanging his head in shame at the thought of what he had been about to do.

            “Um… hi?” Mokuba said, eyeing Yami nervously. Then he noticed the smaller cat boy hiding, or at least trying to, behind his brother. “Hey there, I’m Mokuba,” he said offering his hand. Yugi only shrank back further.

            Seto smiled, gently shoving the little one toward the boy. “Go ahead Yugi, he won’t hurt you.

            The petite cat Mobian, sniffed at the hand, then backed off, hanging his head. He really wanted his master. “What’s wrong with him, Seto?” Mokuba asked, concerned for the little one.

            “He’s just nervous,” Seto lied, not wanting to trouble his brother with the real reason why Yugi was so miserable. “How about if you show him your game room once I’ve gotten these two settled. I’m sure he’ll perk up once you got him busy.”

            “Great idea ‘nii-sama!!!” Mokuba said grabbing hold of the petite cat boy and pulled him up the stairs. Chuckling, the brunet followed his ‘energetic’ brother.

 

***********

 

            Later that night found Yugi scratching on Yami’s door. After several moments of scratching and soft mewling, a sleepy Yami answered. “What’s wrong little one? Did you need something?”

            “Where master?” he asked, remembering his master’s promise to come get him.

            “Master’s asleep,” Yami said, not realizing the smaller Mobian had not meant Seto. “He said not to disturb him. He has to get up early.” Yugi hung his head, not wanting to disobey an order, but needing company all the same.

            Yami frowned, not liking the little one being so gloomy. He pulled him into the room and gently pushed him to the bed. Yugi blinked confusedly, making him look like a kitten. “Go ahead, little one. You can stay here with me tonight, if you want.”

            Yugi gave a small grateful smile, then crawled into the large bed, Yami following after. The taller Mobian drew him close and wrapped his arms and tail protectively around him. However, the little Mobian still couldn’t get to sleep.

            “Yugi want master,” he mewled, pawing at his slumbering companion.

            “I told you he’s asleep,” Yami grumbled, rolling onto his other side.

            “Yugi no want Yami master!” he said louder this time, “Yugi want Yugi master!!!”

            Yami growled, annoyed that the smaller Mobian wouldn’t let him sleep. “My master is  _your_  master, Yugi,” he spat, “That man said so. He told you to obey him!”

            “B-But…”

            “Go to sleep Yugi!”

             “W-Why Yami so mean?!!” the petite cat Mobian sniffled, “Yugi no like you!!!!” He then let out a yowl and ran back to his room, slamming the door and locking it.

            “Just what is going on?!!” asked an irate Seto who had been jarred awake by all the noise.

            Yami hung his head, ashamed for allowing the other Mobian to disturb his master’s sleep. “Yugi misses his master, master.”

            Sighing, the brunet marched over to Yugi’s room and knocked on it when he saw it was locked. “Yugi,” he called.

            “G-Go ‘way!” came the cat Mobian’s voice, “Yugi no want mean Yami! Yugi want master!!!!” There was another ear piecing howl from the other side of the door.

            “Stop this nonsense at once!” Seto demanded, concerned that the ruckus would wake his younger brother as well. “Open this door!!!”

            “N-No!” replied Yugi. “G-Go ‘way!!!” As soon as he said that, a searing pain shot through his head. He had no choice, he had to open that door or suffer from the excruciating pain he was in. His master had ordered him to obey this man and the programming was going to make sure he did.

            The door clicked and swung open revealing a sniffling Yugi, eyes bloodshot from still flowing tears. One look at the pathetic sight, and Seto lost all anger. He remembered all too well when Mokuba had cried himself to sleep the day their parents died. The five year old had kept begging for his mother.

            “I’m sorry, Yugi,” he said hugging the smaller Mobian. “But you’ll have to stay here. Bakura told you to, remember?” Yugi nodded, but still refused to stop sobbing. “Go back to sleep Yami. I’ll stay with him for awhile. The taller Mobian nodded gratefully, and obeyed his master.

            Seto led Yugi back to the bed and tucked him in, which was difficult since the little one had practically glued himself to his chest and wasn’t showing any signs of letting go. Knowing from experience with Mokuba, the brunet lay next to him and allowed Yugi to curl up next to him, desperately holding onto him as he continued to sob his heart out.

            Seto’s heart went out to him and he drew him even closer, wrapping his arms around him, something he’d only done with his younger brother.

            A couple hours later, the cat Mobian had finally worn himself out and was now asleep. Seto let out a sigh of relief; he’d finally be able to get some rest himself. Closing his eyes, he allowed sleep to claim him for the night, still holding Yugi close.

 

***********

 

            “Yugi,” Yami said, firmly, “You have to eat.”

            “No!” the smaller Mobian retorted, pouting. “Yugi no hungry!”

            “Yugi, don’t make me force you,” he warned.

            Over the past weeks, Yugi’s depression had gotten worse. It had gotten to the point that he was refusing to eat. Many a servant had threatened to quit when the cat Mobian constantly lashed out at them with his claws whenever they tried to force feed him, which was why Yami was now caring for the little one.

            The petite cat Mobian still refused to obey. “You no Yugi master!!! Yugi no have to obey you!!!”

            Growling in frustration, the taller cat Mobian pulled Yugi’s tail, making him yelp in surprised pain. Seeing an opening, Yami grabbed a forkful of food as shoved it into the now open mouth. Yugi was forced to chew and swallow it or choke to death.

            “See what you made me do?” Yami complained, “Now eat your food or I’ll do that again.”

            “You mean to Yugi!!! Yugi  **HATE** Yami!!!”

            Yugi glared at his taller companion as he reluctantly ate the food set out before him.

 

*********

 

            “I can’t believe those $%^*s never gave him a fail safe!!” Seto fumed, banging his fist on the desk, making his feline bodyguard to jump.

            “Master?” he asked, worried he had done something to make the man angry.

            “It’s all right, Yami. I’m just mad that there’s nothing I can do for Yugi.” Yami nodded, sympathetically. He had grown rather fond of the smaller Mobian even if Yugi still hated him. It pained him greatly to ‘be mean’ as Yugi had put it, but he had to or the smaller cat Mobian would have wasted away to nothing if he didn’t. Yugi was now so thin from his refusing to eat and Yami was very worried.

            Seto pored over the information Bakura had provided yet again for the umpteenth time since he’d brought it home. ‘This is not want I had expected when I hired that thief,’ he thought. His original plan was to have Bakura steal information from the Paradius mainframe so he could shut the sick freak down for good.

            However, Dartz’s death had already taken care of that for him. Without its CEO to call the shots, the company was now in complete disarray and on the verge of closing down. ‘Well at least I can still prove that Mobians were made using  _real_  humans instead of manufactured ones like they claim,’ Seto thought, glad that Bakura was able to find documents detailing payments to various Mafia and Yakuza gangs for kidnapping as well as records of parents and orphanages selling children for their sick experiments. ‘All the other Mobian manufacturers had better look out, ‘cause I’m going to make sure they go down. Hard!’

            His reason for all this, being that the one person he cared for other than Mokuba had suddenly ‘died’ only to turn up at Bakura’s home three years ago – as a fox Mobian. He’d been shocked to see him when he went to retrieve something Bakura had been hired to steal. He sighed again, frowning.

            No matter how many times he read over the files, they refused to give him what he really wanted. All they told him was: ‘Mobian #UG-244, Pleasure Model, Felis Catus, Fail Safe Password: to be provided by client upon purchase.’ There was absolutely no way to ‘fix’ Yugi’s problem since he had been woken before he was finished, which also attributed to his childish or and somewhat kittenish behavior. “$&*^!” he cursed again, slamming the top of his laptop closed.

            “Master?” Yami queried again.

            “Sorry, Yami. It’s all right. I just wish I could help him.” Yami nodded again, coming up to him then slinking into the brunet’s lap and rubbing his cheek against his chest. Seto smiled, scratching behind Yami’s ears, causing the cat Mobian to purr.

            Ever since he laid eyes on the cat Mobian, he’d felt an attraction toward him. At first it may have just been lust, but the longer he spent time with him, the more intrigued he became by him. He found that the assassin had an intelligence to match his own and was more than capable of holding a conversation with him. He also learned that he wasn’t a bad gamer as well and as a result allowed him to test the prototypes his company produced before going public with them. All in all, having the cat Mobian around was a  _very_ good thing.

            “I’ve never told anyone this, not even Mokuba, but I only got interested in Mobians because someone I cared for very much was taken from me and made into one.”

            “I didn’t know,” Yami said, nuzzling against him in hopes of comforting his master.

            “It’s all right. He’s happy where he is now, and his ‘master’ takes very good care of him. That’s all that matters,” he said, smiling sadly. “I’m happy as long as he’s happy. Besides, I have you now.” Yami purred, happy to have been able to cheer up his master a bit, purring even louder when Seto placed a chaste kiss on his soft spikes. “Let’s go check on Yugi.”

            The cat Mobian nodded and followed him out of Kaiba’s home office.

 

**********

 

            As with every night, Yugi couldn’t sleep. He was about to try going to Seto’s room again, when he saw the taller Mobian follow the even taller brunet into his bedroom, smiling as he began rubbing up against him, a low purr coming from him. The petite Mobian then sighed and turned back to his bed when he noticed that a window had been left open in his room by a careless maid. He suddenly got an idea. If his master wouldn’t come to him, he’d go to him – there was no order from him that he couldn’t leave.

            Opening the window wider so he could fit through, Yugi then leapt out from the second story bedroom and, like all cats, landed on his feet. However, he didn’t remain still for long. He dashed across the manicured grounds like a bat out of hell. He leapt onto the ten foot wall surrounding the Kaiba estate, stopping only to get his bearings then leapt off, running towards the city lights as soon as he hit the ground.

 

********

 

            He’d been running all night, and still no sign of his master. Panting, he stopped and ducked into an alley, leaning against the wall to rest.

            “Well lookie here,” a man with dirty blond hair wrapped in an American flag bandana said, leering at the much smaller Mobian.

            “Ain’t that one of ‘em whachamacallits?” another man asked in a British accent.

            “Yeah, I’ve heard about them,” a third man said joining the other two. “I heard the really fancy whorehouses have them working there. You know the ones that you’ve gotta know somebody to get in.”

            “Well looks like we’re lucky, boys,” the blond said, pinning poor Yugi to the wall, trapping his wrists above his head with one of his larger ones. “This one’s fer free.”

            “Hey, c’mon Keith!” the Brit whined. “Stop hoggin’ ‘im.”

            “I saw him first!” Keith spat back, then began ripping at the pajama top he was wearing.

            That threw Yugi into a panic. ‘No touch Yugi! Only master touch Yugi!’ he said, then lashing out at Keith when he felt the man’s grip loosen slightly.

            “Ooo he’s feisty,” the third man said, working on removing the Mobian’s pajama pants.

            Keith smirked then forcefully pressed his lips against Yugi’s, shoving his tongue in when the cat boy gasped at the not so nice touches below his waist. In a desperate attempt to stop him, Yugi bit down on the invader,  _hard_.

            “Kitty likes it rough, huh?” Keith sneered, spitting out blood. “That just makes it more fun fer us, right guys?”

            The other two men just laughed, beginning to remove their own clothes. Yugi kept struggling, however was quickly overpowered by the three bigger men and howled in pain when he felt something big and hard enter him.

 

***********

 

            Marik was driving home with his smaller Mobian companion from his job as an emergency vet, when the golden wolf boy pawed his arm. “Marik-sama, stop here, please,” he begged.

            “What’s wrong Malik?” he asked, pulling over.

            “Those men,” he replied, pointing to a group of men, coming from an alley and whooping it up, “I’ve got a feeling.”

            Marik nodded in understanding. He knew all about the smaller blond’s feelings, having practically grown up with him while living at his uncle’s estate in Egypt. “Just be careful, habibi,” he said as Malik got out of the car. The golden wolf nodded then carefully crept over to the alley once, the men were gone.

            He gasped at the sight that greeted him. Struggling to get up, was a smaller cat Mobian with red, black, and blond hair and he was  _very_  naked. “$&*^!” he swore, now knowing what the feeling was. ‘Those $&*^ers raped him!’ He rushed over to the little one, only to get slashed at when he attempted to help him up.

            “Hey! It’s ok, I’m not gonna hurt you,” he said backing slightly and holding up his hands. “Marik-sama, come quick!” he called, not taking his eyes off the frightened Mobian. “Don’t worry, help’s coming. I’m Malik,” he said smiling and bending down as to not appear threatening.

            “Sweet Isis!” Marik yelled, seeing the cat boy huddled on the dirty ground. “What happened to him?” he asked, practically ripping off his jacket and going over to him.

            “Guess,” Malik replied, bitterly.

            Marik swore as the petite Mobian lashed out again.

            “Hey! Stop it! Malik shouted, grabbing the little one’s arms. “That’s my master! He’s here to help.”

            Marik nodded when wide amethysts shot over to him. He held out the jacket. “You look cold, little guy,” he said calmly, giving his best non threatening smile. “You’d better put this on ok?”

            The smaller Mobian stood up trembling, then snatched the jacket after giving it a quick sniff. He then put it on, clutching it to keep from falling off since it was obviously too big for him.

            “Where’s your master, little one?” Marik asked, bending down so they could be eye to eye.

            “Y-Yugi no know!!!!” he cried, then began to howl, hating being scared and in pain.

            “Poor guy,” the smaller blond said, “Do you want us to help look?”

            Yugi looked between the two blonds. Should he let them help or should he run? Searching for his master by himself hadn’t gone well at all. “It’s dangerous for such a cute little guy like you to be wandering around this late,” Marik said, “You’d be safer with us at least. I could get you fixed up too. I’m a doctor.”

            “He’s a real good one too,” Malik added. “He makes the pain go away real fast.” Yugi thought about it some more, then latched onto the golden Mobian, still clutching the jacket.

            Marik chuckled, “Guess that means he wants us to help, habibi.”

            “Don’t worry little guy, we’ll find your master.” Malik then gently led the smaller Mobian to Marik’s car.

 

***********

 

            Marik was now driving again, after stopping back at the clinic to check Yugi out and clean him up. Said Mobian was now sitting on the lap of the golden wolf boy and clutching the violet hoodie he wore, his eyes darting about every few seconds for anything familiar.

            “It’s a big city, you know,” Marik grumbled. “His master could be  _anywhere_!”

            Malik glared at him when Yugi started whimper. “I know that! But we’ve got to at least try a bit longer,” he said, petting the emaciated Mobian. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him,” he said to Yugi, nuzzling into the soft spikes in hopes in calming him, then the little one spotted a flash of white.

            “Master!” Yugi cried, struggling to get the car door open, not knowing how.

            “Marik-sama, pull over quick!” Malik said desperately trying to hold onto the squirming Mobian.

            “^&#*!” he spat as he slammed on the brakes, luckily it was late enough and there were very few cars or pedestrians out. “What the $&*^ happened, Malik?!”

            “I-I think he saw something,” the smaller blond replied, still fighting with Yugi.

            “Yeesh! Open the damned door already before he hurts himself!” Malik only too gladly reached over and pulled on the door handle. The door swung open at Yugi’s pushing and the little cat Mobian dashed out like a bat out of hell. Both blonds stayed motionless as Yugi quickly became a multicolored blur.

            “Um… Marik-sama, isn’t that where Bakura-dono lives?” the smaller blond asked, eyeing the building the cat Mobian had raced to.

 

********

 

            Yugi ran after the white haired man, following him along the familiar route they had taken that night when he had been woken. However, the white haired man hadn’t climbed up to the roof of their home like last time, he went straight up to the door, fished around his pockets, then opened the door and walked in. Yugi, not knowing what to do, decided to take the rooftop route.

            Minutes later he was standing before his master’s door, but he was nowhere in sight. Remembering that the man had taken a shiny object from under the doormat, the cat Mobian bent down and sure enough the shiny object was still there. He looked at it for a moment, then remembered that his master had stuck it into a hole above the knob and turned it. Doing so, he saw that the door opened at his turning the knob.

            Quickly replacing the object, Yugi crept silently into the apartment, making sure the door made no noise when it shut behind him. The little cat Mobian searched through the silent home for his master. Upon seeing him lying in the bed, his arms wrapped around the smaller version of himself, Yugi had to bite his lip in order to prevent the growl that wanted to escape his throat. He may have liked the other white haired teen, but he still couldn’t help be jealous of their relationship, it was what he was made for after all.

            The multicolor haired cat boy tore off the jacket he had still been wearing, not caring where it landed, then snuck into the bed. Lying down behind his master, Yugi wrapped his arms and tail around the man’s waist. He gave the man’s back a quick lick before allowing himself to fall into the first peaceful sleep in weeks. He was home – with master.

 

*********

 

            Bakura groaned as he woke up, feeling strangely warmer than when he had gone to sleep, a slightly heavy weight at his back. Carefully turning, as not to wake his smaller lover, he saw something he definitely didn’t expect – a peacefully sleeping cat Mobian curled up behind him.

            “%*@%*!” he cursed, which unfortunately woke the other two bedmates.

            “’Kura-sama?” Ryou asked, then gasped when he saw a now, cringing Yugi who apparently had been knocked onto the floor. “My god Yugi, you’re so thin!” he cried, “What was Kaiba-dono doing to you?!”

            “Just what the $&*^* are you doing here?!” the white haired thief, bellowed.

            “Y-Yugi want master! M-Master no come!” he stammered.

            Sighing, Bakura gathered the petite cat boy into his arms. “Look, Yugi. I can’t keep you here. You have to go back to Kaiba, he’ll be able to take care of you better,” he said as firmly as he could while trying his best to calm the little one. Unfortunately, he had failed miserably for Yugi was now howling, tears cascading down his cheeks in rivers.

            “YUGI WANT MASTER!!!!!!” he screamed.

            Ryou placed a hand on the thief’s shoulder only to have it shoved away as Bakura stood up and dragged Yugi to the spare guestroom. “I can’t handle this crap anymore!” he shouted. “I’ve tried to be nice, I’ve tried to explain, but you just won’t listen! I just can’t keep you!” He shoved Yugi onto the bed then stormed out of the room, locking the door on the way. “You stay in there until I can get a hold of that rich idiot!”

            CRACK!!!

            The white haired thief looked in utter shock, his hand rubbing his now  _very_  red cheek. Never before had Ryou struck him. “That was uncalled for ‘Kura-sama! Can’t you see that he can’t help himself! You should know what the imprinting did to him! And did you even bother to  _look_  at him?! He’s thin as a rake!!! Obviously, Kaiba must have been mistreating him!!!”

            “B-But, tenshi…”

            “Don’t tenshi me! I won’t let you break the poor thing’s heart anymore than you already have!”

            “Ryou…”

            “You’d better get to know that couch real good, because you two will be spending quite a lot of time together!” With that, the normally shy fox Mobian stalked angrily over to the kitchen to start breakfast. Bakura’s head fell, his long locks hiding the tears that were threatening to fall. He had screwed up,  _big time_ , this time.

            “Better call Kaiba,” he muttered to no one.

 

********

 

            Yugi didn’t know how long, he’d been crying, but there had been no other noise from his master or Ryou since their original spat that morning. Suddenly he could hear his master shouting again and he cringed, knowing it was because of him. Sniffling, he wiped at his runny nose with one hand then went over to the full length mirror standing in one corner.

            “Master no want, Yugi,” he said to his image. His eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles from lack of sleep and his bones were beginning to show more clearly from under his skin from not eating.

            “Yugi ugly!” he shouted, then promptly balled his hand into a fist and smashed it against the mirror. Several pieces of glass fell from the frame, but it wasn’t enough for the little cat Mobian. He then grabbed onto the large mirror, smearing blood on the dark wood and shoved it over with all of his might. He nodded in approval at the huge crash it made, utterly destroying the rest of the glass. “If Master no want Yugi, then Yugi go ‘way,” he said picking up a very large and  _very_  sharp shard.

 

*********

 

            It had taken over two hours to get a hold of the brown haired CEO, who was now having his voice blasted over the thief’s phone. “IF YUGI’S HURT IN ANYWAY, I SEE TO IT PERSONALLY THAT YOU SPEND THE REST OF YOUR PATHETIC LIFE BEHIND BARS!!!!!”

            “Hmph! Serves you right,” a still furious Ryou muttered as he headed to the bedroom to tidy up. Bakura looked pained at that statement, but quickly pushed it aside.

            “IT’S NOT MY FAULT THOSE $&*^*S DIDN’T GIVE HIM A $&*^ING FAIL SAFE!!!!” he yelled back. “IT MAY BE MY FAULT I WOKE HIM, BUT HOW THE $&*^ WAS I TO KNOW THAT JOB’D TURN OUT LIKE THIS!”

            “I’M GETTING REAL SICK OF YOUR LAME EXCUSES THIEF!!! YUGI’D BETTER STILL BE THERE WHEN I GET THERE OR I –“ the irate brunet was cut off when a loud crash came from the guest room.

            “*%&#*!” The white haired man, promptly slammed his finger on the off button and threw the phone to the floor, dashing to Yugi’s room.

            “WHAT did you do now, Bakura-sama!” Ryou yelled coming from their room upon hearing said crash.

            “It wasn’t me!” he shot back then jammed the key into the lock. Both of them screamed in shock at the sight before them. The poor little cat Mobian had a large shard of mirror glass in one hand, his wrists bleeding profusely.

 

~TBC?~


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

            “Thanks for taking me here, Marik-sama,” the smaller blond Mobian said as they approached the apartment building.

            “You wouldn’t leave me alone if I didn’t,” his taller master grumbled.

            “I’m sorry, but I won’t be happy until I know Bakura-dono and Ryou-chan are alright. What if he ran into that poor little guy we helped last night? You know how Bakura-dono gets around strangers.”

            The taller blond smiled, remembering the day he’d met the thief. Ryou had developed a mild case of pneumonia and Bakura had rushed him to his clinic. The white haired man had to be physically restrained by his cousin’s boyfriend Rishid. He was so mistrustful of them that, Marik couldn’t doubt that the thief would have done his job for him if he knew how. He also noticed him glaring at the other clients while waiting for their turn. It was almost as if the thief was expecting to be attacked at any moment.

            “Hey, it’s ok. I am kinda worried about the little guy too,” Marik said ruffling the smaller one’s hair. He then pressed the call button for the thief’s apartment. No answer which was odd since either Bakura or Ryou was usually up by this time. He pressed the button again, and a panting Ryou answered.

            “Y-Yes?”

            “Hey, Ry!” the golden wolf called.

            “This isn’t exactly the best time right now, Malik,” he said, “We’re um… kinda in the middle of an emergency.”

            “What’d that idiot thief do now?” Marik asked.

            There was a short silence then Bakura’s voice came over the intercom. “Thank Ra you’re here freak, I could use a vet right now.”

            Malik went pale, “You don’t think…”

            “Possibly,” Marik whispered back. “I’ll be right up!” he said into the speaker, glad for once he’d forgotten he was still carrying his emergency kit. There was a brief moment of silence then the door buzzed, allowing the two blonds to enter the building. Malik raced to the elevators and dashed into the nearest available one, not waiting for his master. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something had happened to the little Mobian he’d meant the night before.

            Meanwhile, Bakura was in the bathroom with a  _very_  frightened Yugi. “Why’d the %&*# did you go and do that for?!” he yelled for the umpteenth time as he desperately tried to stop the bleeding with yet another set of towels. Yugi only shook, too frightened and too weak to answer.

            “Yelling at him isn’t going to help any,” Ryou spat, glaring at his taller lover. “He’s already scared as it is. It’ll be okay Yugi. Marik-dono’s on the way up and he’ll fix you up,” he said, smiling and petting the soft spiky hair.

            “About f'in’ time!” Bakura grumbled when a rather loud knock came from the apartment door. Ryou rushed back out and opened the door, only to be knocked over by a blond blur. Marik didn’t need to ask, he just followed his smaller lover to the bathroom.

            “%&*#!” the taller blond said, at the sight of a pile of bloody towels and a shaking Yugi. “Just what did you do to him?!” he yelled, pushing the white haired thief away and immediately began examining the cat Mobian’s wrists.

            “I wasn’t me!” Bakura shot back. “The idiot slit his wrists on his own!”

            Malik snarled and glared at him. “And  _why_  is that?!” He didn’t know what the actual situation was, but seeing a fellow Mobian in danger of losing his life didn’t sit well with him.

            “This isn’t the time for this %&*#!” Marik yelled pulling out a syringe and sticking it in a bottle of anesthetic. “Either help me or get the f'ing hell out!!!”

            Both Bakura and Malik eeped then dashed out of the bathroom.

            “Now will SOMEBODY tell me what the heck happened to Yugi?!!!” Malik asked as he plopped down onto the couch.

            “H-How do you know Yugi?!” Ryou queried, trembling from the glare the gold wolf Mobian was giving the two of them.

            “We ran into him last night. Said he was looking for his master. I never would have thought it’d turn out to be you, Bakura-dono.”

            “I’m not really his master,” Bakura said, grimly. Malik looked at him questioningly. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

            “Well, we’ve got plenty of time,” Malik said, still glaring at him.

            Bakura was about to start his tale, when, the call button went off. “Please don’t tell me that’s who I think it is,” Bakura complained.

            Ryou, for want of something to do other than sit and wait, pushed the reply button. “Um… Hello?” he asked, meekly.

            “YUGI HAD BETTER BE THERE, THIEF!” came Kaiba’s  _very_  irate voice.

            “I knew it,” said thief, grumbled. Malik watched the two, curious as to what the heck they’d stumbled in on. “Might as well let him in, love. There’ll be no stopping him anyway.”

            “IF YOU DON’T LET ME IN THIS INSTANT, I’LL…” Kaiba’s ranting was cut off the door buzzer.

            Sighing, Ryou went to start some tea, not before shooting Bakura a glare of his own.

            “I’ll explain when rich-boy gets here. I’m in  _no_ moodfor repeating myself,” he said, sighing and shaking his head.

            Malik kept silent, however, he would glance over to the bathroom door whenever a howl would escape from behind the closed door. It didn’t take too long for their front door to receive another beating.

            “I KNOW YOU’VE GOT YUGI IN THERE THIEF! OPEN UP!” Kaiba yelled.

            Malik got up and answered the door. It was obvious to him, that the white haired thief was too shaken to deal with the brunet at the moment. Seto stared at Malik for a moment, thinking he’d gotten to the wrong apartment, but then recognized the mop of white hair by the couch. “WHERE’S YUGI?!” he demanded, Yami silently following him into the apartment, glaring at everyone.

            It was then that Marik chose to come from the bathroom, carrying a dozing Yugi, bandages on both forearms. “Will you keep it down! Poor guy’s been through hell.”

            Yami and Seto saw red. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!” Seto bellowed, barely managing to hold Yami from attacking Marik.

            “Yes, ‘Kura, I think you’ve got some explaining to do,” Marik said, rocking the little Mobian who was trembling again, having been woken by the loud voices. “I’m going to put him to bed, and then I want a  _full_  explanation,” he said carrying Yugi to the guestroom, Yami following him.

            “As would  _I,_ ” Seto spat, making himself at home on one of the living room chairs. “Care to tell me why he had bandages on  _both_  arms, thief?!”

            Bakura hung his head before speaking. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t yelled at him, if hadn’t rejected him, the little one wouldn’t have smashed my mother’s mirror and slit his wrists.”

            There was a resounding crack as Seto’s fist had an intimate meeting with the thief’s jaw. “You knew he never got a fail safe and still you DELIBERATELY refused him!! No wonder he wanted to kill himself!!!” came Seto’s irate reply.

            “It’s not that I  _don’t_  want to keep him,” Bakura said, rubbing his sore jaw. “We’d be living on a tight budget if I’d kept him, Kaiba. He deserves better. He deserves a master who could give him whatever he wanted. I’d never be able to do that. I can barely do that for Ryou as it is. Gods know he deserves better than this tiny little apartment.”

            “’K-Kura-sama!” Ryou said, blushing, shocked at his taller lover’s confession. Not once did the thief complain to him, nor did he whenever Bakura had denied him a gift due to the fact that the bills had to come first. “I-I never knew you felt like that!”

            Bakura was again stopped from saying anything when Marik returned, followed by a growling and glaring Yami. “He’s asleep right now, so do try to keep your voices down. I gave him a sedative so he’ll be out of it for a few hours,” the vet said, sitting next to Malik. “He’s lost a lot of blood, but not too much since you two got to him in time. He’ll be weak for a few days, so I don’t recommend moving him. He’ll be ok, though, probably be in some pain, due to the stitches I had to give him. I’ll prescribe some painkillers.” Bakura nodded, the guilt written all over his face.

            “Got what you deserved then?” the blond vet asked, noticing the thief’s quickly bruising face. Bakura could only nod.

            “Hey! I DEMAND an explanation!!” Malik demanded.

            “Malik! What did I say about keeping your voice down?!” The golden wolf Mobian ‘eeped’ before grumbling, “Well I do.”

            “Well thief?” Seto spat.

            Ryou placed a hand on his lover’s shoulder. Thankful for the smaller one’s support, Bakura began his tale aided by the brunet who filled them on what had been going on at the mansion.

 

***********

 

            “So now you know,” Bakura said, hanging his head once more. “I’m a jerk and a complete idiot.”

            “Yes you are!” Ryou said, crawling into his lap. “But I guess I’m one too, since I can’t stop loving you,” he added, giving him a quick peck.

            “I suppose I should apologize as well,” Seto said, shocking all of them. Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp. was known to  _never_  apologize to anyone, even if he  _was_  wrong. “I never should have kept him when I learned about the missing fail safe. But Mokuba seemed so happy to have someone to play with at home, I just couldn’t do it.”

            Yami nuzzled his master’s cheek. “You thought you were doing the right thing, Master,” he said, purring as Seto absentmindedly scratched the cat Mobian’s ears.

            “That still doesn’t make it right. I should have sent him back when he started to refuse to eat. I truly am sorry, Bakura. I wish there was some other way I could get you out of this mess.”

            “Why not just let him stay with Bakura-dono?” Malik asked. Bakura was about to protest, but the blond Mobian raised his hand to stop him. “I’m not saying for free. What about if rich boy here helps out a bit?”

            “And why should I do that?” Seto asked, not liking the idea of having to pay for something he didn’t even own or use.

            “Because you’ll be the legal owner of Yugi,” Malik replied. “You could say that Bakura-dono here is your… um… caretaker or something and Yugi stays here because he likes him so much.”

            “And we could let Yugi go and visit Mokuba,” Ryou added, “That way he won’t lose his friend and Yugi’ll be much happier.”

            Seto placed his hand on his chin, thinking it over. It actually wasn’t a bad idea. Both sides would be getting what they wanted. He looked at Yami and the cat Mobian looked up at him, curiously. “What do you think I should do?” he asked. Yami blinked, which Seto thought was rather cute, amazed that his master would ask for his opinion. Even though he did that all the time now, he still couldn’t believe that he would even be considered to have an opinion of his own.

            “Yugi should be happy,” the darker Mobian replied, remembering just how miserable the smaller one had been.

            “I guess I have no choice then,” Seto began, “I’ll allow Yugi to remain with you thief, however, you will no longer be accepting jobs from anyone else. Your sole purpose will now be to make sure the little one is happy,  _very_  happy as well to do whatever job I send your way.” Bakura nodded, accepting his fate. “I will pay you, of course, it’s not like I’m going to make your work your @$$ off for nothing.” Again the thief nodded. “But if I ever hear that Yugi is either unhappy or hurt in anyway, I will go through with that threat I made earlier, do I make myself clear?”

            “Yes, Kaiba,” Bakura said, rather subduedly.

            “Good. I have to get back to work, I’ve wasted enough time. I’ll be sending you your first payment within a week. Oh, and bring the little one to my house when he’s well enough, Mokuba will not leave me alone until you do.” With that the brunet CEO strode out the door, Yami started to follow, then turned back to the thief.

            “I will not hesitate to hurt you, if anything happens to him. I’m sure master will not hesitate to give that order,” he warned then followed his master out of the apartment.

            “See, it turned out all right!” Malik said, happily nuzzling against Marik.

            “I really hope so,” Bakura said. “I really hurt the poor kid. I just hope he doesn’t wind up hating me or something.”

            Ryou couldn’t help giggling. “Baka! I may have gotten mad at you this morning, but I don’t hate you. I’m sure Yugi’ll feel the same way when he wakes up.”

            Malik nodded in agreement. “From what Marik-sama’s told me about imprinting, I’m pretty darned sure that the little guy couldn’t hate you even if he wanted to.”

            Bakura let out a chuckle, his mood improving slightly. “No doubt you’re right, blondie. Looks like I’ve got another handful. Believe me, it wasn’t easy to get Ryou to start thinking on his own at first.”

            Ryou blushed, but nodded.

            “Well I guess I’ll be heading back to work as well. That %&*# cousin of mine is going to have another cow.” Malik stifled a giggle, remembering how particular Marik’s cousin Isis was about him being punctual or lack thereof. “I’ll send you a prescription of painkillers for Yugi later. Try to keep him in one piece this time ok?” he added jokingly.

            “Not even funny, freak,” Bakura shot back, grinning though.

            “Bye Ry-chan!” Malik called as he followed his taller copy out. “I’ll come by and see how the kitten’s doing.”

            “He’ll like that, I think,” Ryou said, relieved now that everything had worked out for the best.

            “Are you sure you don’t mind all this, Ryou?” Bakura asked, concerned his lover may get jealous once Yugi had recovered and started showering him with affection again.

            “Like I said earlier, ‘Kura-sama, poor Yugi can’t help himself. He’s imprinted onto you so there’s no way out of this. Besides, I don’t think he could help it even if he hadn’t been imprinted,” he said with a mischievous smirk. “I just can’t keep away from you either.” He then proceeded to give him a kiss that caused them to wind up in the bedroom that Ryou had just cleaned not too long ago.

 

***********

 

            Yugi woke up, his head fuzzy and foggy. He’d been dressed in a pair of pj’s a tad too big and the mirror he’d smashed was gone, the glass cleaned up as well. Remembering what he had done, the little cat Mobian glanced down and saw that white bandages covered most of his forearms. Hanging his head in shame, for failing to ‘go ‘way’ as he had put it, he stood up and staggered to the door.

            When he didn’t hear anything, he braved risking his master’s anger and crept out of the room, clinging to whatever he could to keep himself steady. The little one’s first instinct had been to search his master’s room, and that is what he did. Opening the door carefully, as to not disturb anyone who might be inside, Yugi peeked past the crack he had made.

            Just as his instinct had suspected, Bakura was once again lying on the bed, Ryou curled up at his side. The poor cat boy couldn’t help letting out a tiny whimper at the sight of the two of them. It hurt too much to see his master with another. He started to close the door, but as he was doing so, bumped into a piece of furniture in the hall and let out a yelp of pain.

            “Yugi?!” Bakura cried as he watched the smaller Mobian start to fall. With the speed learnt from years of running from the law, the white haired thief dashed over to him and thankfully caught him just before Yugi hit the floor. Carrying him over to the bed, he said, “You shouldn’t be out of bed. You’ve lost a lot of blood with that stunt you pulled.”

            Yugi winced. “Y-Yugi sorry,” he said miserably.

            Bakura sighed. “I’m not angry with you, Yugi. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have made you go with Kaiba,” he said as he placed him on the bed next to Ryou, who had just woken up.

            Smiling, the smaller white haired Mobian, drew Yugi into his arms. The little cat Mobian stiffened slightly, but a sudden sharp pain in his head forced him to relax.

            “What am I going to do with you?” Bakura asked, shaking his head in mock anger. “You’re such a handful.” Yugi was about to apologize, but a gentle kiss from his master stopped anything from escaping his mouth.

            “Master want Yugi?” he asked, blinking very much like Yami had.

            Nodding, Bakura wrapped his arms around the petite cat boy. “Forget about what I said earlier. You’re staying with Ryou and me.”

            “Master want Yugi!” he cried, ecstatically, then began to kiss and lick all over the white haired thief. Bakura firmly grasped Yugi’s face and turned it to his, smiling gently. “Not yet, little one,” he said, causing a pout to appear on the small heart shaped face. “Maybe when you’re better. That is if you don’t mind, love.”

            Ryou blushed, but smiled. “I don’t mind sharing ‘Kura-sama, but just remember who had you first, or your next date will be with a certain piece of furniture,” he warned, nuzzling his nose into Yugi’s soft spikes.

            “Like I’d let that happen, tenshi (angel),” he said back, reaching over to pull the smaller clone into a kiss.

            Not liking to be left out, Yugi copied his master and kissed Ryou’s cheek, earning a chuckle from Bakura. “Not until you’re better, little one,” he reminded. “How about some lunch?”

            As if on cue, Yugi’s stomach let its opinion be known. Laughing, Ryou got up and quickly put on a pale blue robe. “Lunch it is then!” he said heading off to the kitchen.

 

~Owari~


End file.
